Every day People straighten up the hair, why not the heart?
The guerrilla band is not to be considered inferior to the army against which it fights simply because it is inferior in fire power.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Strength and determination can outweigh conventional power in conflict.
This quote highlights the notion that numerical or technological superiority in a conflict does not necessarily determine the outcome. Guerrilla fighters, although lacking advanced weaponry, possess resilience, strategic thinking, and a deep commitment to their cause, which can enable them to effectively challenge a more powerful opponent. Che Guevara emphasizes the importance of spirit and tactics in warfare, suggesting that courage and determination can level the playing field against conventional military forces.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the importance of determination in the face of adversity.
More from Che Guevara
All quotes βIt is a revolution that came to power with its own army and on the ruins of the army of oppression.
The final hour of colonialism has struck, and millions of inhabitants of Africa, Asia and Latin America rise to meet a new life and demand their unrestricted right to self-determination.
We must carry the war into every corner the enemy happens to carry it, to his home, to his centers of entertainment: a total war. It is necessary to prevent him from having a moment of peace, a quiet moment outside his barracks or even inside; we must attack him wherever he may be, make him feel like a cornered beast wherever he may move. Then his moral fiber shall begin to decline, but we shall notice how the signs of decadence begin to disappear.
This is not a story of heroic feats, or merely the narrative of a cynic; at least I do not mean it to be. It is a glimpse of two lives running parallel for a time, with similar hopes and convergent dreams.
The desire to sacrifice an entire lifetime to the noblest of ideals serves no purpose if one works alone.
Similar quotes
When I take a knee, I am facing the flag with my full body, staring straight into the heart of our country's ultimate symbol of freedom - because I believe it is my responsibility, just as it is yours, to ensure that freedom is afforded to everyone in this country.
Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great, my right arm and leg are paralyzed, and I left a job I loved representing southern Arizona in Congress.
When I rest I feel utterly lifeless except that my throat burns when I draw breath... I can scarcely go on. No despair, no happiness, no anxiety. I have not lost the mastery of my feelings, there are actually no more feelings. I consist only of will. After each few metres this too fizzles out in unending tiredness. Then I think nothing. I let myself fall, just lie there. For an indefinite time I remain completely irresolute. Then I make a few steps again.
Coraline shivered. She preferred her other mother to have a location: if she were nowhere, then she could be anywhere. And, after all, it is always easier to be afraid of something you cannot see.
So the brother in black offers to these United States the source of courage that endures, and laughter.
The same rebellion, the same impatience, the same anger that exists in the hearts of the dark people in Africa and Asia is existing in the hearts and minds of 20 million black people in this country who have been just as thoroughly colonized as the people in Africa and Asia.